I love hearing your history information on the breed - its always a welcome delight.
However, I do want to comment on something. You speak of their bone as being the same, yet say the cannon bones are the same measurement but the height is different. That doesn't give you the same bone - just the same cannon bone measurement. "bone" is more of a ratio than a straight measurement. The taller a horse is, their cannon bone measurement should go up by a similar ratio in order to claim the "bone" has stayed the same.
Here is an extreme example to illustrate this. Lets say you have a sturdy 13 hand pony with 8 inch cannones. He would be considered a big boned boy. Then lets say you have a 17 hand horse with 8 inch cannons. That horse is going to be considered light boned for his height.
Why is this distinction important? Because something with the same density and same thickness is weaker the longer it is. Its pure physics. A taller horse tends to have longer cannons since that is where part of the height comes from and if thickness stays the same as a shorter horse with shorter cannons, you have a horse with relatively weaker legs. Add this with a few of the other trends I have seen in the moderns - such as longer necks and backs and narrower loin areas to gain flexibility - you then end up decreasing the strength and weight carrying capacity of the horse.
And you are right - as of now, most haflingers out there are more "average" and fall well within the breed standard and not to either extreme. The trend right now and what is being rewarded, however, is the modern type. Considering what has happened in some of the other breeds, its not surprising some are fearing the loss of both the drafty and even "average" haflinger because the "average" of today does not mean it will be the "average" of tomorrow. Ours would not be the first breed it happened to, but if the concern is constantly voiced and most of the breeders don't strive for extremes, but rather good all-round horses that fall within the standard and retain those good haflinger traits of strength, versatility and temperament, then I think these discussions were well worth it.
Jessie in KY
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